our paths will lead us apart
by WickedSong
Summary: "At the mention of Rachel Berry he never smiles." Finn-centric. Mentions of past Finchel and FinnxOC and RachelxOC. Also includes Klaine. Strictly a oneshot.


**our paths will lead us apart,**

**written by wickedsong.**

**Disclaimer : I do not own Glee, FOX do. Idk why I put the title in lower case, trying to be fun and spontaneous I guess. OK, so this isn't under the Finchel category, just the Finn one, but it does deal with Finchel and how I personally see their relationship going. Please, if you review, be gentle, as I haven't written these two on their own before.**

* * *

At the mention of Rachel Berry he never smiles. The mere thought of his ex-fiancee does a weird thing to his stomach he can't understand

He is over her, he knows that, they have said their goodbyes and he wouldn't have it any other way but it's still a weird ache.

In high school everything about his life depended on her, depended on her reaching her dreams and he loved her so much - _he still does love her, __because he has to accept that some tiny part of him always will _ - he was willing to wait, willing to stand by her side, endure every high and low from her NYADA audition to the moment she graduated from the school, to when she landed her big break in a Broadway show.

Somewhere along the way he had to make room for his own dreams and realise that he had no idea what to be, besides, as Kurt had put it, the guy who held her purse on the red carpet. And again, maybe he loved her so much that he would be that for her - he would be anything - if it meant he got to keep her by his side.

He may have not been Lima-bound indefinitely but he wasn't exactly New York material either. This realisation came when Puck brought up the idea of the two of them going into business together. Sure, running off to L.A with no idea what to do when they got there, except clean pools and fix cars seemed to be a stupid move but so did going to New York, where his only thing to do was wait on Rachel. Why did it seem he was always waiting?

To be better, to be smarter, to excel.

Finally a revelation came in the form of applying to The Actor's Studio. Maybe acting was his path and it was a path that worked hand in hand with Rachel's. He would get to go with her to New York and he would still get to _be with her._

That part was essential.

Only The Actor's Studio doesn't work out. Somehow, by some miracle he deems, he gets in, but once he gets _there _he realises that this still isn't where he's meant to be. His dream, his passion in life is out there somewhere but it isn't at a prestigious college in New York, where he feels as much of a Lima Loser than he did back at home.

This is when the fights start. First it's small things, gripes about the small apartment the pair share with Kurt, they don't see each other for sometimes days on end, Rachel goes out with some of her new friends, she starts to talk about a guy in her class who can hit all these amazing jaw dropping notes. Finn's high B seems like a forgotten memory as her eyes shine with appreciation at this guy, his name is Justin or Jake, or something like that and his voice. It's like she can hardly remember when they duetted on Don't Stop Believin' almost four years ago. So he starts to go out with his new friends from acting class but he does not fit in. Not at all. He keeps going out with them though, hoping he's just having some problems adjusting, wishing he would eventually.

He never does.

He drops out of The Actor's Studio just before the end of his first year and this is the straw that breaks the camel's back in regards to his relationship with Rachel. His jealously and her high hopes for him are what kill them and he's out of their apartment by the end of the night, despite a newly-single Kurt trying to mediate between them and make them see that their fight is literally about nothing but maybe a misunderstanding, but one that has gone on for far too long in Finn's eyes.

"_I hate you_!"

Her scream at him is the last thing she ever said to him.

* * *

So he went back to Lima, took over the shop for a couple of years before the impending nupitials of the reunited Kurt and Blaine called him out to New York city. Rachel is at the wedding, of course she is, but they do not speak, do not even look at each other. Kurt convinces his step-brother to try again in the City of Dreams, letting him stay with himself and Blaine. He knows that his dreams are bigger than Lima, maybe not Broadway, maybe not movie, maybe not even TV show big.

It's a two year slog but he finally finds his passion and it surprises him.

Teaching.

Teaching glee club to be exact.

Blaine's cousin is a teacher at an upscale private school, looking to start their own glee club when Blaine invites her over one day and regales her with tales of their high school days and the club.

Kurt is the one to suggest Finn and at first he doesn't see it. He'd be wearing sweater vests and gelling his hair before he knew it. He likes Mr. Schue, he was one of his best teachers but even he doesn't want to practically be forced to following in his footsteps.

But the hope at this school astounds him. A time machine has taken him back to 2009 - well not really obviously, although Brittany is sure she's almost cracked the code with that one - where six teenagers took to the stage in red outfits, dancing around the stage to a version of Don't Stop Believin he'll never forget.

He takes the job immediately. He's never been the brightest but there's also a music position open for a drum instructor. His luck is slowly turning around and he can't believe that it's all happening.

* * *

Kurt and Blaine make sure he never sees Rachel and he doesn't, not until exactly seven years after they break up. And it's not even in person. She's at the Tony awards, smiling at the cameras, her award winning one she had been perfecting, up until the last second for her NYADA audition all those years ago. By her side is some guy and she's wearing a ring that sparkles in the lights. So she's engaged again.

He bitterly wonders if that's Jake - or was it Justin?

So he doesn't smile but he does feel some happiness that she was able to move on. He's got a girlfriend now. A lovely woman who works at the school, Bailey. She's a reserved Math teacher who he bumped into on his way to the choir room one day. From the moment he saw her he couldn't take her eyes off her. He takes that as a good sign.

Maybe he'll never smile at Rachel Berry or how happy she is now. Would she do him the same courtesy?

"And the winner for Best Leading Actress in a Musical goes to Rachel Barbra Berry for her role as Elphaba in Wicked."

He claps with Kurt and Blaine, and they turn from their seats to see him, quickly switching the television off. He assures them it's fine.

But he still doesn't even crack a grin.

Like he said, he never smiles at the mention of Rachel Berry.

* * *

**I hope you all enjoyed this. I don't know where it came from, it was just one of those ones where the first line sort of set me off on a tangent of sorts.**

**So please review, it would mean a lot to me :)**

**WickedSong x**


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